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The  Locality  of  the 
Broderick-Terry  Duel 

on  September  13, 1859 

by 

Hermann  Schussler 


Printed  for  Distribution  by 

the  Historic  Landmarks  Committee 

of  the  ^tive  Sons  of 

the  golden  West 


--/•a 


HERMANN  SCHUSSLER 


The 

Locality  of  the  Broderick -Terry  Duel 

on  September  13, 1859 

by 
Hermann  Schussler 


Printed  for 
the  Historic  Landmarks  Committee  of  the 

Sons  of  the  (jolden  West 
by  John  Henry 
San  Francisco 
1916 


I  have  attached  hereto  a  blueprint  copy  of  a 
map  which  I  made  to  show  the  locations  of  the 
different  points  of  interest  including  the  old  roads; 
and  also  a  photographic  copy  of  a  portion  of  the 
old  United  States  Coast  Survey  Map  of  1869,  on 
which  I  have  delineated  the  county  linef  in  black, 
and  the  other  points  also  shown  on  the  blueprint, 

'"ra£  Hi 


. 


The  Contents 

Chapter 

I.     Introduction    - 

II.  Mr.  Peter  Quintan    - 

III.  Mr.  Jeremiah  Lynch's  book,  "A  Senator  of  the  Fifties  " 

IV.  Clippings  from  contemporaneous  newspapers 
V.  Quotations  from  Mr.  Lynch's  book 

VI.  The  Davis  Ranch     - 

VII.  Location  of  "The  Lake  House"    - 

VIII.  Location  of  the  original  "Ocean  House"  - 

IX.  County  line  near  Lake  Merced 

X.  Mr.  George  Barron   - 

XI.     Two  trips  to  Lake  Merced  region  with  Mr.  Barron  and 
Mr.  McKee 

XII.     Trip  to  Lake  region  with  Mr.  George  Green,  locating 
the  place  of  the  duel     - 

XIII.  Locating  on  the  same  trip  the  sites  of  the  original  Ocean 

House  and  Lake  House 

XIV.  Extracts  from  HitteWs  "History  of  California"  - 

XV.     Extracts  from  Mr.   Truman  s  book,   "The  Field  of 
Honor"  - 

XVI.     Extracts  from  Mr.  O'Meara's  book,  "Broderick  and 
Gwin"    - 

XVII.     Extracts  from  Oscar  T.  Shuck's  book,  "Representative 
Men  of  the  Pacific"    - 

XVIII.     Extract  from  Judge  Currey's  Monograph,  "The  Brod- 
erick-TerryDuel"      - 

XIX.     Conclusion 

[ill] 


Page 

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24 


336137 


HERMANN  SCHUSSLER 

CIVIL  AND  HYDR.  ENGINEER 

SAN  FRANCISCO 


San  Francisco,  March  24, 1916. 
To  MR.  JOHN  F.  DAVIS, 

grand  President,  N.  S.  G.  W. 

My  Dear  Sir: 

When  I  received  your  letter  of  December  24, 
1915, 1  was  confined  to  my  house  by  illness,,  which, 
asl  subsequently  informed  you,  kept  me  from  beginning 
my  investigations  in  re:  "THE  LOCALITY  OF  THE 

BRODERICK-TERRY  DUEL"-  (thesubjeSofyour 

letter)  — until  about  the  middle  of  January. 

I. 

|HILE  the  duel  took  place  at  early  dawn  of  Introduction. 
September  13, 1859  —  supposedly  at  or  near 
Laguna  de  la  Merced,  located  in  the  south 
west  corner  of  San  Francisco  County  —  the 
Spring  Valley  Water  Works  did  not  acquire 
a  substantial  foothold  there  until  about  1877,  or  some  seven 
teen  years  after  that  memorable  event,  and  not  until  after  I — 
as  the  company's  engineer  —  had  urged  the  acquisition  of 
the  lake  and  surrounding  properties,  for  a  nearby  emergency 


The  Locality  of  the  Broderick-Terry  Duel 

supply,  during  the  preceding  decade.  As  pradically  my  whole 
time  was  taken  up  before,  during  and  after  the  year  1877, 
with  keeping  the  water  supply  of  San  Francisco  ahead  of  the 
constantly  increasing  demands  of  our  rapidly  growing  city,  I 
did  not  give  the  matter  of  the  locality  of  the  duel  much 
thought. 

Besides,  not  until  the  request  made  by  you  in  your  letter  of 
December  24, 1915,  for  my  assistance  in  that  matter  was  this 
question  brought  up  to  me  in  a  concrete  form. 

I  felt,  therefore,  highly  honored  by  your  request  and  imme 
diately  concluded  to  assist  you  and  the  Native  Sons  in  the 
very  laudable  undertaking  of  locating,  if  possible,  the  spot 
where  one  of  our  best  California  citizens  met  his  untimely 
death. 

II. 

Mr.  Peter  $uinlan.  |*mVl  PERSONALLY  knew  only  one  of  the  wit 
nesses  to  the  duel — Mr.  Peter  Quinlan — (for 
several  years  in  the  early  sixties  the  Registrar  of 
the  old  Bensley  Water  Company,  and  there 
after,  up  to  the  time  of  his  death  on  July  7, 
1903,  Registrar  of  the  Spring  Valley  Water  Works). 

Mr.  Quinlan  maintained  that  it  took  place  near  the  shore  of 
the  southerly  end  of  Lake  Merced,  just  south  of  the  county  line. 
This  beyond  doubt  placed  the  location  into  the  westerly 
end  of  the  ravine  in  which  the  outlet  or  discharge  end  of  the 
water  company's  Ocean  View  drainage  flume  is  located.  (/// 
on  blueprint  and  contour  map.) 

[2] 


The  Locality  of  the  Broderick-Terry  Duel 

Being  intimately  acquainted  since  1866  with  the  topography 
of  the  lands  surrounding  Lake  Merced  and  the  above  locality 
(mentioned  by  Mr.  Quinlan) — corresponding  closely  with 
other  general  information  I  had  from  time  to  time  received 
on  the  subject, — I  became  practically  convinced  that  the  duel 
took  place  in  or  very  near  the  particular  locality  mentioned 
by  Mr.  Quinlan. 

The  comparatively  short  ravine  (f-g  on  contour  map),  lying 
"just  south"  of  the  county  line,  has  its  westerly  terminus  but 
a  short  distance  eastwardly  from  the  above  mentioned  present 
"Ocean  View  drainage  flume."  The  duel,  therefore,  in  all 
probability,  took  place  within  one  hundred  yards  eastwardly 
from  the  said  present  flume  outlet  (at  about  the  place  marked 
///on  map). 

m. 

>VING,  about  a  year  ago,  read  the  interesting  Mr.  Jeremiah 
book  by  Mr.  Jeremiah  Lynch,  entitled,  "A  Sen-   Lynch's  book,  "A 
ator  of  the  Fifties,"  I  perused  this  book  care-   jftfi™» 
fully  in  order  to  find  a  clue  to  the  definite  lo 
cality  of  the  duel. 
It  appears  from  Mr.  Lynch's  account  that  the  duel  was  pre 
vented  by  "the  Sheriff"  (the  county  is  not  mentioned),  early 
Monday  morning  (September  12, 1859).  On  page  212,  Mr. 
Lynch  then  continues,  that  on  the  same  day  it  was  arranged 
that  the  encounter  "should  be  next  morning,  at  about  the  same 
time  and  place." 


[3] 


The  Locality  of  the  Broderick-Terry  Duel 

IV. 

N  FEBRUARY  6  and  10, 1916,  you  mailed 

~rf**&  Jrc      ^n3pWk  i  me  some  clippings  from  newspapers  contem- 
contemporaneous   |  Ad^rs  A  1 

newspapers.   I  liV  :  lli  I  poraneous  with  the  duel,  which  you  had  ob 
tained  from  Sacramento,  which  clippings  I  per 
used  with  great  interest  in  order  to  detect,  if 
possible,  a  fairly  detailed  description  of  the  locality  of  the  duel 
Generally  speaking,  their  various  statements  regarding  this 
important  point  are  more  or  less  vague  and  leave  a  wide  mar 
gin  as  to  the  locality,  between  the  different  papers,  as  will  be 
seen  from  the  following  extracts: — 

(a)  Alto,  September  14, 1859 : 

"In  a  valley  about  two  miles  from  the  south  end  of  the  lake 
beyond  the  Lake  House." 

(b)  Another  account  in  the  Alta  of  September  14,  1859 

(perhaps  taken  from  an  extra  issue  of  that  date), 
says: 

w  met  in  a  small  valley  about  one  mile  and  a  half  from  the 
south  end  of  the  lake,  beyond  the  Lake  House,  and  about  ten 
miles  from  the  city.  The  ground  selected  afforded  only  a  small 
level  space  sufficient  for  the  distance  agreed  upon." 

(c)  The  Bulletin,  September  13, 1859  : 

"in  a  ravine  on  Davis  Ranch,  San  Mateo  County,  about  two 
miles  south  of  the  east  end  of  Lake  Merced,  and  ten  or  twelve 
miles  from  this  city." 

(d)  The  Herald,  September  14, 1859 : 

"in  a  beautiful  ravine  on  the  Ranch  of  Mr.  Davis,  in  San 
Mateo  County,  two  miles  from  the  dividing  line  between  the 
counties  of  San  Mateo  and  San  Francisco." 

[4] 


The  Locality  of  the  Broderick-Terry  Duel 

(e)  San  Francisco  Daily  Times: 

1.  "at  a  small  dell  or  valley  some  two  miles  distant  from  Mer 
ced  Lake." 

2.  "Mr.  Broderick  was  at  the  Lake  House  and  slept  there." 

3.  "This  was  in  a  small  valley  some  two  hundred  yards  in 
extent.  To  reach  this  place  it  was  necessary  to  pass  out  over  the 
great  county  road  towards  San  Jose,  and  turning  off  at  the  Lake 
House  road,  make  a  detour  of  the  lake,  whence  a  circuitous  by 
path  led  to  the  ground." 

4.  "It  was  a  small  valley  surrounded  by  low  hummocks  or 
hills." 

5.  "It  was  sheltered  from  the  winds  and  as  secluded  as  could 
be  desired." 

6.  "The  spectators  were  directed  to  withdraw  from  the  im 
mediate  scene  of  the  duel,  which  they  did,  posting  themselves 
upon  two  hillocks  about  four  hundred  yards  distant." 

7.  "Ten  paces  were  marked  off  and  tested  by  the  seconds" 
(that  being  the  distance  agreed  upon),  "and  the  principals  placed 
in  their  relative  positions,"  etc.,  etc. 

V. 

PAGES  239  and  240  of  Mr.  Lynch's  book,    Quotations  from 
'A  Senator  of  the  Fifties,"  he  gives  a  long  list  Mr-  Ly"ch'5  book- 
of  names  of  prominent  men  and  of  books  as 
authorities  consulted  by  him  in  the  preparation 
of  his  book,  and  he  also  states  that  he  includes 
"every  paper  published  in  San  Francisco  during  the  week  of 
the  duel  and  death." 

There  is  no  doubt,  therefore,  that  Mr.  Lynch  has  given  the 
question  of  the  circumstances  surrounding  the  Broderick- 

[5] 


The  Locality  of  the  Broderick-Terry  Duel 

Terry  duel  a  most  thorough  study.  Still,  the  actual  locality  of 
the  duel  is  not  indicated  by  him  with  sufficient  detail  so  as  to 
assist  in  its  definite  determination. 

On  page  216  et  seq.  of  his  book — in  describing  the  move 
ments  of  Mr.  Broderick  and  his  party  on  the  evening  of  Sep 
tember  I2th  and  the  morning  of  September  13, 1859, — Mr. 
Lynch  says: 

(  f  )  i .  "  Monday  night"  (September  1 2th), "  Colton  and  McKibbin, 

with  a  surgeon  and  Broderick ,  entered  a  carriage  and  were  driven 
out  to  the  Lake  House,  a  little  inn  on  the  old  Mission  road, 
some  two  miles  from  the  sea,  and  the  same  distance  north  and 
west  of  the  rendezvous." 

2.  " in  the  raw  and  foggy  morning" (September 

,3th). 

3.  " the  quartette,  mounting  the  vehicle,  drove  to  the 

spot  where  they  descried  Terry  and  his  party.    The  latter  had 
also  passed  the  night  in  the  vicinity,  but  it  was  in  a  comfortable 
farmhouse  hard  by." 

4.  "a  group  of  men  who  had  arrived  on  foot,  on  horseback 
and  in  carriages,  stood  at  a  distance  on  the  knoll." 

5.  "The  seconds  of  Broderick  won  the  position  and  the  giv 
ing  of  the  words." 

6.  "The  ten  paces  were  measured  and  white  marks  placed 
to  establish  the  distance.    The  men  were  told  to  take  their 


7.  "He"  (Broderick)  "stood  with  his  back  to  the  rising  sun." 

8.  "Fronting  the  ocean  like  himself  was  California." 

9.  "The  latter"  (Terry)  "had  also  passed  the  night  in  the 
vicinity  but  in  a  more  comfortable  farmhouse  hard  by." 

[6] 


The  Locality  of  the  Broderick-Terry  Duel 

VI. 

|N  TWO  of  the  quotations  taken  from  the  The  Davis  Ranch. 
contemporaneous  newspapers  (sub  c,  d),  the 
"Davis  Ranch"  in  San  Mateo  County  is  men 
tioned  as  containing  the  locality  of  the  duel. 
Inquiry,  which  I  made  at  the  County  Court 
house  in  Redwood  City  for  a  county  map  of  the  early  sixties, 
on  which  a  "Davis  Ranch"  might  be  found  located,  was  with 
out  result,  as  no  such  old  map  existed  there. 

VII. 

'Lake  House,"  which  is  mentioned  in  6,  Location  of ff The 
in  e  and  in  f,  was  the  old  roadside  inn,  in  which, 
according  to  Mr.  Jeremiah  Lynch's  account, 
Mr.  Broderick  and  party  spent  the  night  from 
September  i2th  to  1 3th,  preceding  the  day  of 
the  duel  on  the  latter  day. 

According  to  the  oldest  county  map  of  San  Francisco,  in 
my  possession  (Stoddard  map  of  1869),  the  "Lake  House" 
(/on  blueprint  and  on  contour  map)  is  shown  to  be  located 
to  the  south  of  the  road,  originally  called  the  "Lake  House 
Road"  (and subsequently  called  the  "Ocean  House  Road"and 
thereafter  "Ocean  Avenue"),  leading  from  b  on  the  old  stage 
road  to  San  Jose  (marked  on  maps  a-b-k-h),  to  the  ocean 
(b-c-l'I-m),  the  last  half  mile  of  this  road  following  the  north 
erly  bank  of  "Merced  Creek,"  which  at  that  time  formed  the 
only  outlet  of  Lake  Merced  into  the  ocean. 

[7] 


The  Locality  of  the  Broderick-Terry  Duel 
VIII. 

Location  of  the   ifJS5ifi^OM  this  olc*  L^e  House  road,  a  branch 
original  'Vcean   ^  g]gf|  road  forked  off  at  c;  one  of  these  forks,  c-d-II, 

terminated  at  the  original  "Ocean  House," 
built  at  //  on  the  narrow  neck  of  the  penin 
sula  between  the   north  and  south  branch 
of  Lake  Merced. 

ix. 

County  line  near  f^TljIFV^  ORDER  to  reach  the  county  line,  and  par- 
Lake  Merced. 


shore  of  Lake  Merced,  by  the  shortest  passa 
ble  wagon  road — from  the  old  "Lake  House" 
at  / — it  was  necessary  to  leave  the  old  "Lake 
House  road"  at  the  forks  at  c,  follow  the  old  road  leading  to 
the  original  Ocean  House,  from  c  to  d,  and  then  branch  off 
to  the  south  along  the  foot  of  the  hills,  via  e,  thence  across 
the  county  line  and  thereafter  follow  it  in  a  westerly  direction, 
along  the  bottom  of  the  shallow  ravine  (paralleling  the  county 
line  on  its  south  side)  until,  after  passing  /and  g,  the  south 
easterly  shore  of  Lake  Merced  was  reached  at  a  point  in  San 
Mateo  County  and  a  hundred  yards,  more  or  less,  south  of  the 
county  line. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  anybody  wished  to  drive  from  San 
Francisco  at  that  time  (1859)  to  the  county  line  just  east  of 
Lake  Merced,  by  the  shortest  route,  he  would  probably  come 
out  of  town  by  the  "old  stage  road  from  San  Francisco  to 
San  Jose,"  and  after  following  it  (see  maps),  past  a  to  b,  would 

[8] 


The  Locality  of  the  Broderick-Terry  Duel 

turn  westwardly  at  b  on  to  the  "old  Lake  House  road,"  follow 
it  to  c,  then  turn  off  southwestwardly  and  drive  along  the  sandy 
wagon  road  from  c  to  d,  and  thereafter  follow  the  southerly 
branch  of  this  road,  above  described,  along  e  and  /  to  g,  on 
the  "old  branch  road  to  county  line  and  lake." 

By  another  but  more  circuitous  road  a  team  coming  from 
San  Francisco  could  reach  the  same  spot  g  near  the  county 
line  and  the  extreme  southeast  corner  of  the  kke  by  driving 
along  the  old  San  Francisco-San  Jose  stage  road  (see  blue 
print)  along  a,  b,  k,  h,  at  which  ktter  point  he  would  turn  off 
to  the  west,  and  after  driving  to  f,  near  a  farmhouse,  would 
turn  northwardly  to  g,  located  just  south  of  the  county  line 
and  on  the  east  side  of  the  lake. 

By  continuing  a  little  further  along  the  road  h-i  in  a  west 
erly  direction,  he  would  arrive  at  another  farmhouse  marked 
/Fon  blueprint. 

It  is  possible  that  either  the  farmhouse  at  i  or  the  one  at 
IV  might  be  the  "farmhouse  hard  by  "  (see  Lynch,  f  9) ,  in  which 
Terry  spent  the  night  before  the  duel. 

x. 

ING  arrived  at  this  point  of  my  investiga-   Mr.GeorgeBarron. 
tions,  I  concluded  to  call  on  Mr.  Jeremiah 
Lynch,  the  author  of  the  book,  "A  Senator  of 
the  Fifties,"  quoted  from  above. 

Accidentally  I  met  Mr.  Lynch  on  Montgom 
ery  Street,  and  after  telling  him  of  the  object  of  my  mission, 

[9] 


The  Locality  of  the  Broderick-Terry  Duel 

he  became  much  interested  in  the  subject  and  advised  me  to 
call  on  Mr.  George  Barren,  the  Curator  of  the  Golden  Gate 
Park  Museum, — as  from  a  late  conversation  with  the  latter, 
Mr.  Lynch  was  led  to  believe  that  Mr.  Barren  knew  of  a  man 
who  either  had  been  a  witness  to  the  duel  or  who  had  been 
reliably  informed  of  its  exact  locality  by  some  one  who  had 
witnessed  it.  I  at  once  concluded  to  interview  Mr.  Barren  at 
the  Park  Museum,  knowing  that  he  would  give  me  his  most 
enthusiastic  help. 

XL 

Two  trips  to  Lake  WTit'       COMPANY  with  Mr.Donald  McKee  (a  na- 

tiveofthiscityandaStanfordengineenngstu. 

Mr.  McKee.    RDI  |Q|  dent,  temporarily  working  in  my  office  as  my 

assistant),  we  drove  out  to  the  Park  Museum 
and  were  fortunate  enough  to  meet  Mr.  Barren. 
The  latter  not  only  offered  to  assist  me  in  every  way,  but 
offered  to  accompany  us  at  once  to  the  neighborhood  of  Lake 
Merced  Ranch,  in  order  to  find  a  gentleman  named  George 
Green,  residing  on  the  north  side  of  Balboa  Boulevard  and  not 
far  from  its  junction  with  Corbett  Road.  Mr.  Barren  having 
heard  from  either  Mr.  George  Green,  or  otherwise,  that  the 
latter  had  authentic  information  on  the  subject,  we  felt  quite 
sure  that  the  latter  would  be  an  important  personage  to  assist 
in  the  definite  settlement  of  the  question  of  the  exact  locality 
of  the  duel.  We  drove  out  that  day,  and  again  a  day  or  two 
later,  to  Mr.  George  Green's  residence,  but  did  not  find  him 
in,  but  we  fortunately  met  his  younger  brother  instead.  The 

ho] 


The  Locality  of  the  Broderick-Terry  Duel 

latter  promised  to  inform  his  brother  of  our  mission,  and  if 
possible  to  arrange  a  meeting  between  Mr.  Barron  or  me  with 
Mr.  George  Green,  for  a  day  in  the  near  future. 

XII. 

[ONDAY  afternoon  (March  i3th)  Mr.  George   TriP  "  f 
Green  called  at  my  private  office  in  San  Fran-   ^£       ^ 
cisco  and  offered  to  accompany  me  to  the  spot   locating  the  place 
where  the  duel  had  taken  place  in  the  fall  of  °fthe  && 
1859,  which  offer  I  gladly  accepted. 
Before  starting  for  Lake  Merced  that  afternoon,  being  de 
sirous  of  having  Mr.  George  Barron  accompany  us  on  the 
trip,  I  telephoned  to  the  latter's  office  at  the  Park  Museum, 
but  found  that  he  was  absent  from  San  Francisco. 

About  four  o'clock  that  afternoon  I  started  in  company  of 
Mr.  George  Green  and  Mr.  Donald  McKee  for  the  Lake 
Merced  Rancho ;  and  in  the  hope  that  Mr.  Barron  might  have 
meanwhile  returned  to  the  Park  Museum,  we  called  for  him 
there  with  the  auto. 

Mr.  Barron  not  having  returned  as  yet  from  across  the  bay, 
we  three  started  for  the  Lake  Merced  Rancho  via  Nineteenth 
Avenue,  I  taking  a  roll  along  with  me  containing  my  old  con 
tour  map  of  that  property,  on  which  map  I  had  marked  the 
spot  where,  judging  from  my  investigations  up  to  that  time, 
the  duel  must  have  taken  place. 

After  arriving  at  the  junction  of  Nineteenth  Avenue  and 
Sloat  -Boulevard,  Mr.  George  Green  asked  us  to  drive  east- 

[H] 


The  Locality  of  the  Broderick-Terry  Duel 

wardly  to  the  junction  of  Ocean  Avenue  and  Junipero  Serra 
Boulevard;  and  there  he  pointed  out  that  on  the  fatal  morn 
ing,  the  Broderick  party  having  spent  the  night  at  his  father's 
house,  the  "old  Lake  House"  (/on  blueprint),  drove  up  cast- 
hardly  along  the  "old  Lake  House  road"  (/-/  to  c),  thence 
turned  off  at  c  in  a  southwesterly  direction  following  a  sandy 
country  road  (c-d-e-f-g  on  blueprint)  to  ///,  the  spot  selected 
for  the  duel. 

The  point  c,  where  the  Broderick  party  turned  off  from  the 
"old  Lake  House  road,"  in  order  to  reach  the  rendezvous  at 
the  lake,  as  near  as  I  have  been  able  to  locate  it  by  the  use  of 
my  old  maps  (a  photographic  copy  of  one  of  which  is  hereto 
attached),  and  also  from  Mr.  George  Green's  description,  was 
at  or  near  the  point  where  the  present  "Faxon  Avenue"  joins 
the  present  "Ocean  Avenue,"  being  two  blocks  easterly  from 
the  easterly  boundary  line  of  the  subsequent  "Ingleside  race 
track  property." 

This  sandy  branch  road  at  that  time  crossed  the  latter  prop 
erty  diagonally  in  a  southwesterly  direction,  and  then  followed 
the  general  route,  c,  d,  e,  f,  g  to  III  (see  blueprint  and  con 
tour  map),  the  place  of  the  rendezvous  hereinbefore  described 
under  the  head  of  "The  County  line,"  etc. 

As  this  old  road  is  now  practically  obliterated  by  the  many 
improvements  made  since  in  that  region,  we  (Mr.  Green, 
McKee  and  I)  turned  our  auto  southwardly,  at  Mr.  Green's 
suggestion,  from  the  junction  of  the  present  Ocean  Avenue 
and  Junipero  Serra  Boulevard,  and  followed  the  latter  to  a 

[12] 


The  Locality  of  the  Broderick-Terry  Duel 

point  near  the  county  line,  which  separates  San  Francisco  from 
San  Mateo  County.  We  then  turned  westwardly  into  a  farm 
road  constructed  of  kte  years,  and  following  Mr.  Green's  di 
rection  we  drove  westwardly,  and  after  crossing  the  county  line 
into  San  Mateo  County  at  a  very  oblique  angle,  we  entered 
the  upper  or  easterly  end  of  a  shallow  ravine  (f-g  on  contour 
map),  in  the  lower  or  westerly  end  of  which,  near  the  former 
east  shore  of  Lake  Merced,  I  had  concluded  from  my  previous 
investigations  that  the  place  of  the  rendezvous  must  have  been 
located,  as  noted  on  my  map  above  referred  to. 

You  can  imagine  my  delight  when,  after  arriving  near  the 
westerly  end  of  this  ravine,  Mr.  George  Green  asked  the  auto 
to  be  stopped,  and  we  all  got  out, — he  stepped  across  a  small 
ditch,  and  after  walking  southwardly  five  or  six  steps,  he  said: 

"This  is  the  spot  where  Mr.  Broderick  fell  at  the  duel." 

I  then  unrolled  my  map  and  showed  my  companions  that 
the  spot  indicated  by  Mr.  Green  on  the  ground  not  only  cor 
responded  with  the  same  ravine,  but  also  very  closely  with  the 
spot  which  I  had  selected  and  previously  marked  on  my  map. 

Mr.  Green  related  to  us  that  when  he  was  still  a  young  man 
(he  being  now  over  sixty),  his  father  (who  died  a  number  of 
years  ago),  in  riding  with  him  past  the  fatal  spot,  had  defi 
nitely  pointed  it  out  to  him — his  oldest  son — with  the  injunc 
tion  not  to  forget  it,  so  that  some  day  in  the  future  he  could 
transmit  this  authentic  knowledge  to  others. 

Mr.  Green  also  stated  that  his  father  (who  had  been  an  eye 
witness  of  the  duel)  had  told  him  that  Mr.  Broderick' s  car- 


The  Locality  of  the  Broderick-Terry  Duel 

riage  stood  but  a  short  distance  up  the  ravine,  as  they  had  to 
carry  the  fatally  wounded  man  but  a  short  distance  before 
reaching  his  carriage. 

Mr.  Green  did  not  remember  about  his  father  saying  any 
thing  about  the  place  where  the  spectators  had  stood.  But 
judging  from  the  topography  on  both  sides  of  the  ravine,  I 
concluded  that  most  of  them  probably  stood  on  the  northerly 
slope  of  the  ravine  and  just  below  the  crestline  of  the  hill  and 
perhaps  just  south  of  the  county  line,  and  from  one  hundred 
to  two  hundred  yards  away  from  the  scene  of  the  duel. 

We  then  drove  a  stake  into  the  ground  on  the  spot  indi 
cated  by  Mr.  Green,  and  Mr.  Donald  McKee  and  I  proceeded 
to  pace  off  the  distance  between  this  spot  and  the  outlet-end 
of  the  Spring  Valley  Water  Company's  "Ocean  House  drain 
age  flume,"  which  distance  turned  out  to  be  about  fifty  yards. 

In  order  to  have  a  further  temporary  check  on  the  location, 
we  also  paced  off  the  distance  from  the  fatal  spot  to  a  low 
water-tank  to  the  southwest,  which  distance  measured  between 
twenty-five  and  thirty  yards. 

Referring  back  to  several  of  my  quotations  hereinbefore 
made—mainly,  that  the  duel  took  place  at  early  morning  or 
sunrise;  that  Mr.  Broderick  had  the  choice  of  place;  that  the 
distance  between  the  combatants  was  ten  paces, — this  would 
place  Mr.  Broderick  on  the  south  side  of  the  bottom  of  the 
ravine  (with  his  back  to  the  sun  or  the  east),  and  his  antago 
nist  Terry  on  the  north  side  of  the  bottom  of  the  ravine  and 
ten  paces  from  Mr.  Broderick. 


e 


The  Locality  of  the  Broderick-Terry  Duel 

So  that,  in  all  probability,  while  Mr.  Broderick  was  to  fire  in 
a  northerly  direction,  Mr.  Terry  would  fire  towards  the  south. 

xm. 

'ER  accomplishing  this  task,  we  again  entered  Locating  on  the 
the  auto  with  the  view  of  locating  the  old"origi-  ^^  n£.  /? 
nal  Ocean  House,"  which  had  preceded  the   Ocean  House  and 
one  subsequently  built,  and  for  years  main-   Lake  House. 
tained  on  the  south  side  of  the  "old  Lake  House 
road,"  and  about  three-fifths  of  a  mile  westerly  from  its  inter 
section  with  the  present  Junipero  Serra  Boulevard. 

I  being  anxious  to  have  Mr.  Green  point  out  the  location 
of  the  original  "Ocean  House,"  we,  after  leaving  point  ///  (see 
blueprint),  followed  the  new  road,  built  in  the  nineties,  skirt 
ing  the  easterly  shore  of  South  Lake  Merced,  —  and  after  pass 
ing  the  Lake  Merced  Pumping  Station,  followed  the  top  of 
the  bluff  along  the  northeasterly  shore  of  the  South  Lake,  un 
til  we  arrived  at  the  narrow  neck  of  the  peninsula  between 
the  South  and  North  lakes. 

At  Mr.  Green's  request  the  auto  was  stopped  at  point  II 
(see  blueprint  and  contour  map),  where  we  found  the  ruin  of 
an  old  brick  fountain-basin,  which,  according  to  Mr.  Green, 
had  stood  in  the  small  garden  of  the  "original  Ocean  House." 
He  also  found  a  number  of  pieces  of  broken  crockery  in 
the  same  locality. 

Mr.  Green  also  pointed  out  the  direction  of  the  old  road 
formerly  leading  from  the  "old  Lake  House  road"  at  point  c 


The  Locality  of  the  Broderick-Terry  Duel 

(see  maps)  and  running  via  d,  to  the  above  peninsula  loca 
tion  of  the  original  "Ocean  House."  I  thereupon  asked  Mr. 
Green  to  also  point  out  to  me  the  exact  location  of  the  "old 
Lake  House,"  which,  according  to  him  (in  1859),  was  occu 
pied  by  his  father  and  his  family;  this  being  of  great  interest, 
as  according  to  the  evidence  heretofore  presented  by  me  and 
corroborated  by  Mr.  George  Green,  Mr.  Broderick  had  spent 
the  night  preceding  the  fatal  duel  at  what  was  then  known 
as  "the  Lake  House." 

From  the  site  of  the  "old  Ocean  House"  (77),  we  drove 
westwardly  across  the  dam  now  separating  the  North  and 
South  lakes,  then  turned  northerly  driving  along  a  road  skirt 
ing  the  North  Lake,  until  we  came  to  its  intersection  with  the 
"old  Lake  House  road,"  which  road — although  not  now  used 
by  the  public — is  still  intact. 

We  followed  this  latter  road  in  a  westerly  direction  until  at 
the  first  abrupt  turn  of  the  old  road  to  the  northwest  Mr. 
Green  stepped  out  of  the  auto,  walked  about  a  dozen  steps 
to  the  south  of  the  road,  and  as  he  stopped,  said:  "Here  is 
the  place  where  the  old  Lake  House  stood,  and  where  we 
children  spent  a  part  of  our  youth,  and  enjoyed  playing  around 
the  small  northerly  branch  of  Lake  Merced,  which,  in  those 
days  and  before  the  drifting  sand-dunes  filled  it  up,  formed 
the  natural  outlet  of  the  lake"  (see  /on  maps).  And  he  fur 
thermore  added,  that,  according  to  his  father's  account,  the 
Broderick  party  spent  the  night  before  the  duel  under  their 
roof  there. 

[16] 


The  Locality  of  the  Broderick-Terry  Duel 

The  location  of  the  old  Lake  House  so  pointed  out  by  Mr. 
George  Green  corresponded  exactly  with  the  location  which 
I  had  found  marked  "Lake  House  "on  Mr.  Stoddard's  map 
of  1869,  as  I  have  mentioned  heretofore,  and  as  is  also  shown 
at  /  on  United  States  contour  map  of  1869. 

This  final  definite  location  of  the  "Lake  House"  of  1859 
not  only  completed  the  chain  of  evidence  which  I  had  been 
gathering  up  to  that  time,  but  also  definitely  determined  the 
location  of  the  "old  Lake  House  road"  of  those  early  days. 

Great  credit  is  due  to  Mr.  George  Green  for  the  invaluable 
assistance  he  has  so  cheerfully  rendered  in  the  above  investi 
gations,  and  upon  parting  I  expressed  to  him  my  high  appre 
ciation  and  gratitude  for  the  same. 

XIV. 

FCE  writing  the  foregoing,  I  have  come  into   Extracts  from 

possession  of  additional  evidence  of  the  cor-   ^tteil's  "History 

-  ,     .  II-        of  California." 

rectness  or  my  conclusions  as  to  the  location 

of  the  spot  where  the  duel  took  place:— 

On  the  morning  of  March  i6th  last,  having 
occasion  to  call  on  my  friend,  Mr.  E.  S.  Heller,  I  mentioned 
to  him  that  I  had  carried  on  a  systematic  investigation  as  to 
the  locality  of  the  Broderick-Terry  duel;  and  as  he  took  great 
interest  in  this  question,  I  asked  him  if  he  could  put  me  on 
the  track  of  additional  evidence. 

He  at  once  advised  me  to  call  on  Mr.  James  H.  Deering, 
the  Librarian  of  the  law  library  in  the  City  Hall,  and  to  ask  for 

[17] 


The  Locality  of  the  Broderick-Terry  Duel 

the  chapter  in  Mr.  HittelPs  "  History  of  California"  rekting  to 
this  subject. 

I  telephoned  to  Mr.  Deering  and  he  told  me  that  he  would 
have  the  special  volume  and  page  ready  for  me  if  I  could  come 
up  to  the  library, — which  I  promised  to  do  at  once. 

Upon  my  arrival  at  the  law  library,  Mr.  Deering  placed  the 
book  and  page  at  my  disposal,  as  well  as  a  place  at  his  desk 
where  I  could  make  the  required  extracts.  The  following  is  a 
copy  of  the  specific  portion  of  Mr.  Hittell's  book,  which  re 
lates  to  the  place  of  rendezvous  between  the  two  combatants 
on  the  early  morning  of  September  13, 1859. 

Mr.  Hittell  in  his  "History  of  California,"  in  Vol.  IV,  pages 
224  et  seq.,says:— 

(g)  i .  "The  principals  to  stand  ten  paces  apart,  facing  each  other." 

2.  "The  place  of  meeting  was  to  be  near  a  farmhouse  occu 
pied  by  William  Higgins  at  the  most  southerly  end  of  Laguna 
de  la  Merced  in  San  Mateo  County,  and  the  time  half  past  five 
o'clock  on  Monday  morning,  September  12, 1859." 

3.  "Among  others,  Martin  J.  Burke,  Chief  of  Police  of  San 
Francisco,  who  had  obtained  warrants  of  arrest  from  the  authori 
ties  of  San  Mateo  County  as  well  as  from  San  Francisco,  was 
present;  and  when  the  principals  stepped  forward  he  advanced 
and  placed  them  under  arrest.  They  were  of  course  obliged  to 
submit  and  at  once  returned  to  the  city  where  they  forthwith 
made  their  appearance  before  Judge  Henry  P.  Coon  of  the  Police 
Court,  attended  by  their  respective  counsel.  An  effort  was  made 
to  show  that  they  had  violated  the  law,  or  intended  to  violate 
it,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  compel  them  ,to  give  bonds  to 
keep  the  peace,  but  Coon  decided  that  no  breach  of  the  peace 
had  been  committed  and  that  the  testimony  was  not  sufficient 
to  hold  them;  and  therefore  he  ordered  them  to  be  discharged. 

[18] 


The  Locality  of  the  Broderick-Terry  Duel 

"Directly  afterwards  it  was  arranged  that  the  meeting  should 
come  off  at  the  same  hour  and  place  the  next  morning,  Tues 
day,  September  i3th.  Aylette,  supposing  the  affair  stopped  for 
a  longer  time,  had  returned  to  Stockton;  but  he  left  Beard's 
pistols;  and  Dr.  William  Hammond  was  selected  to  take  his 
place.  At  the  appointed  time  the  parties  and  their  friends  again 
reached  the  ground.  There  were  about  eighty  other  persons 
present." 

4.  "Broderick  won  the  choice  of  ground  and  the  giving  of  the 
word." 

Mr.  Hittell,  as  above  quoted,  mentions  that  the  pkce  of 
meeting  "was  to  be  near  a  farmhouse  occupied  by  William 
Higgins  at  the  most  southerly  end  of  Laguna  de  la  Merced 
in  San  Mateo  County." 

As  this  was  the  first  time  that  I  had  heard  the  neighbor 
hood  of  Mr.  Higgins'  house  mentioned  in  connection  with  the 
duel,  I  inspected  the  old  county  map  of  San  Mateo  County 
of  1868,  in  the  archives  of  the  Spring  Valley  Water  Company, 
and  found  the  name  of  John  Higgins  inscribed  in  a  large 
tract  of  land  located  just  north  of,  and  adjoining,  the  county 
line,  and  reaching  from  the  extreme  south  end  of  Lake  Mer 
ced  towards  or  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

The  tract  on  which,  according  to  practically  all  the  above 
evidence,  the  duel  took  place,  was  the  most  northerly  portion 
of  the  northeast  quarter  of  Section  2,  T.  3  S.,  R.  6  W.  This 
tract  adjoined  that  of  John  Higgins  (above  described),  both 
tracts  having  the  county  line  as  a  common  boundary  between 
them  for  a  distance  of  nearly  one-fourth  mile. 

On  this  San  Mateo  County  map  of  1868  (published  nine 

[19] 


The  Locality  of  the  Broderick-Terry  Duel 

years  after  the  duel)  this  tract  stands  in  the  name  of  one 
John  Earl. 

It  is  therefore  possible, — if,  as  Mr.  Hittell  mentions  one 
William  Higgins  as  the  owner  in  1859  of  the  land  on  which 
the  duel  took  place, — that  the  latter  (perhaps  a  relative  or 
brother  of  John  Higgins)  transferred  or  sold  it  to  one  John 
Earl  during  the  nine-year  interval  between  1859 — the  year  of 
the  duel — and  1868 — the  date  of  the  oldest  San  Mateo  County 
map. 

xv. 

Extracts  from   WFWCTfM  WAS  about  to  conclude  this  letter  with  the 
Mr.  Truman's   £lM  mgfn  quotation  from  Hittell  and  his  reference  to 

the  "^gg1118"  Ranch>  when  I  encountered 
Mr.  Allen  Knight,  who  I  knew  took  great  in- 

terest  in  San  Francisco's  history. 

After  mentioning  to  him  the  subject  of  my  investigations 
he  at  once  offered  to  bring  me  some  books  from  his  library, 
which  referred  to  the  Broderick-Terry  duel. 

The  first  book  which  Mr.  Knight  brought  me  was  "The 
Field  of  Honor,"  by  Truman  (1884). 

Regarding  the  locality  of  the  duel,  Mr.  Truman  says  (p.  396 
etseq.): 

"A  meeting  had  been  arranged  for  the  i2th  of  September,  at 
sunrise,  near  the  boundary  lines  of  San  Mateo  and  San  Fran 
cisco  Counties." 

After  stating  that  the  meeting  was  postponed  until  the  fol 
lowing  morning,  Mr.  Truman  says: 

[20] 


- 


The  Locality  of  the  Broderick-Terry  Duel 

"and  at  midnight  several  vehicles  left  the  city  and  drove 
towards  Laguna  de  la  Merced,  about  ten  or  twelve  miles  from 
the  city." 

w other  carriages  were  seen  coming  from  different  direc 
tions  and  skirting  the  lake." 

The  surface  of  Lake  Merced  in  those  days  was  considerably 
lower  than  at  the  present  time.  Two  dams  constructed  by 
me  during  the  nineties  (one  at  the  outlet  of  each  of  the  two 
branches  of  the  lake)  have  raised  the  former  water  surface. 
It  is  therefore  probable  that  some  of  the  carriages,  after  driv 
ing  along  the  road — b-c-J(see  blueprint) — in  the  dark,  missed 
the  old  branch  road — d-e-f-g — and  instead  went  southwest- 
wardly  along  the  "old  road  to  Laguna  Merced,"  and,  after 
striking  the  east  shore  of  the  lake,  skirted  along  the  same  in 
a  southerly  direction  along  the  foot  of  the  bluff,  where  the 
much  lower  stage  of  the  kke  at  that  time  left  a  broad  flat 
sandy  margin  on  which  horses  and  carriages  could  freely  pass 
until  they  had  crossed  the  "county  line,"  and  thus  arrive  at 
point  III9  the  pkce  of  rendezvous. 

Mr.  Truman  then  mentions  that  this  party  arrived  at  the 
"Davis  milk  ranch." 

"vaulting  over  the  fence"  (which  fence  in  all  probability  marked 
the  county  line  at  that  point  near  the  lake),  "the  party  went  up 
the  valley,  the  center  of  which  had  been  selected  as  the  scene  of 
the  encounter.  Mr.  Broderick  had  slept  at  the  Lake  House,  near 
by,  and  with  his  friends  was  early  on  the  ground.  Judge  Terry 
and  his  friends  were  also  prompt.  About  eighty  spectators  were 
present." 

"Mr.  Hayes  marked  off  the  prescribed  distance,  ten  paces,  and 
warned  spectators  to  get  out  of  the  line  of  fire." 

[21] 


The  Locality  of  the  Broderick-Terry  Duel 

XVI. 

Extracts  from   CJSS^Pi^S^^  second  book  loaned  me  by  Mr.  Allen 

*"#*•  "Br°derick  and  Gwin'" by  james 

°  Meara  (l88l),on  p.  232  et  seq.,  regarding 
the  terms  of  the  combat  as  proposed  by  Mr. 
Broderick,  makes  the  following  reference  to 
the  place  where  the  duel  was  to  take  place:— 

"Second, — place  of  meeting  on  the  farm  adjoining  the  Lake 
House  Ranch.  The  road  to  the  farmhouse  leaves  the  old  Lake 
House  road,  where  you  strike  the  first  fence  of  the  Lake  House 
property  about  a  mile  before  you  reach  the  Lake  House.  There 
you  take  the  road  to  the  left,  which  brings  you  to  the  farm 
house,  on  the  upper  end  of  the  lake  (Laguna  Merced),  occupied 
by  William  Higgins.  This  is  the  general  neighborhood;  the 
precise  spot  to  be  determined  when  the  parties  meet." 

"Fourth, — Distance  ten  paces." 

(September  12, 1859)  "San  Mateo,  in  which  county  the  field" 
(of  honor)  "was  situated,  just  across  the  San  Francisco  line," — 

(September  12, 1859)  "That  night,  however,  as  the  parties 
were  free  to  go  on  and  conclude  the  matter,  it  was  arranged  that 
the  meeting  should  come  off  the  next  morning,  at  the  same 
place  and  hour." 

"Broderick's  seconds  won  the  choice  of  ground  and  the  giv 
ing  of  the  word." 

"The  sun  was  just  rising  above  the  neighboring  low  hills. 
Mr.  Broderick  was  placed  with  his  back  to  the  sun,  Judge  Terry 
facing  it." 


[22] 


The  Locality  of  the  Broderick-Terry  Duel 

XVII. 

CART.  SHUCK, in  his  book, "Representa-  Extractsfrom 

tive  Men  of  the  Pacific"  (1870),  in  speaking  ^    ,  w 

of  the  locality  in  which  the  Broderick-Terry  tive  Men  'of  the 

duel  took  place  on  September  13, 1859,  says  Pacific." 
on  page  394: 

"On  the  1 2th  of  September"  (1859)  "they  met  at  the  Lake 
House  Ranch,  near  Laguna  Merced,  about  six  miles  from  San 
Francisco,  and  were  arrested.  No  offence  having  as  yet  been  com 
mitted,  Police  Judge  Coon  released  the  parties,  and  the  meeting 
took  place  the  next  day,  near  the  same  locality." 

XVIII. 

T  having  been  able  to  find  a  copy  of  Judge  Extract  from 
Currey's  paper  in  San  Francisco,  I  wired  to  JU£tge  Currey's 

the  State  Librarian  in  Sacramento,  with  the    D  <^0£.r/>~ 

Brodenck-  Terry 

request  to  kindly  wire  me  a  quotation  from  Duel." 
that  paper  relating  to  the  locality  where  the 
duel  took  pkce. 
I  promptly  received  the  following  answer  by  wire: 

"From  Currey's  Monograph": 

"The  duel  took  place  in  San  Mateo  County  near  the  bound 
ary  line  between  that  county  and  San  Francisco  not  far  from 
Laguna  de  Merced." 

J.  L.  GILLIS, 

State  Librarian. 

[23] 


The  Locality  of  the  Broderick-Terry  Duel 

XIX. 

Conclusion.   ISPJ2JHINCE  Wednesday,  March  i5th,  when  I  had 

the  pleasure  of  your  company  on  a  trip  over 
the  Lake  Merced  region,  on  which  occasion  I 
pointed  out  to  you  on  the  ground  the  loca 
tions  of  the  various  important  points  herein 
before  described,  I  came  into  possession  of  Truman's  book, 
"The  Field  of  Honor";  O'Meara's  book,  "Broderick  and 
Gwin";  Shuck's  book,  "Representative  Men  of  the  Pacific," 
and  the  above  quotation  from  Judge  Currey's  monograph, 
"The  Broderick-Terry  Duel." 

The  additional  information  gleaned  from  these  four  author 
ities,  and  quoted  by  me  sub  XV,  XVI,  XVII  and  XVIII, 
respectively,  confirms  me  in  my  above  conclusion,  that  the 
Broderick-Terry  duel  was  fought  on  the  morning  of  Septem 
ber  13,  1859,  in  the  lower  or  westerly  end  of  the  first  small  ravine, 
which  connects  with  the  easterly  shore  of  Lake  Merced,  just  south  of 
the  county  line  between  San  Francisco  and  San  Mateo. 


Please  accept  my  hearty  thanks  for  having  given 
me  the  impetus  to  carry  out  the  above  investigations 
of  this  most  interesting  problem. 

Most  respectfully  yours, 

HERMANN  SCHUSSLER. 


Gayl«rd  Bros. 

akers 
Syrause,  N.  Y. 
JAN.  21,  1908 


. 
14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 


LOAN  DEPT. 


This  book  is  due  on 


iped  below,  or 
d. 
liate  recall. 


1970 

RECtlVbD 

FEB9    70-ttAM 

LOAN   DEPT. 


,'60 
5B 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


